Brendan Fallis Interview: The Essentials

In the nearly two decades since Brendan Fallis moved from his small town in Ontario, Canada to New York City, he’s held quite a few titles. Originally working at a friend’s fashion incubator, Fallis quickly started a side hustle as a DJ to earn some extra money. “My friend managed a restaurant and it wasn’t busy on Monday nights, so I would go there and we would teach ourselves how to DJ,” he recalls. Before long, Fallis was booking more gigs than he could keep up with and DJing beyond just nightclubs, with events taking him from the Cannes Film Festival to Coachella, along with signing partnerships with brands including Chanel, Stuart Weitzman and Red Bull. 

“It really taught me about New York and kind of gave me the keys to the city, but I didn’t want to completely stop with the business side of things,” Fallis tells Observer of planting the seeds for his entrepreneurial pursuits. Helping other aspiring artists to launch their careers seemed like the logical next step for Fallis, who, finding himself overbooked and surrounded by other creatives, started his talent management agency, PRE.VEYOR, in 2012. Along the way, Fallis met his wife, fellow DJ and influencer Hannah Bronfman (the two married in 2017, celebrating with a four-day wedding extravaganza in Morocco), and when they began the process of renovating their Noho apartment to make space for their growing family (the couple currently shares two children), another business venture was born.

“When COVID hit, we were pregnant, and we bought a home on Long Island that we were renovating,” Fallis says of what sparked the idea for his home-inspired e-commerce brand, Fallis Studios. “I had always traveled every week, and I love DJing, but I wanted to be around more to see my kids grow up, so I started thinking about other ways to utilize my creativity and my passion for design; home was a nice way to do it,” he explains. “When I worked in fashion, we manufactured clothing and accessories for people, so I just applied that to myself and started with some non-negotiables for me, like the blanket, coffee cups and backgammon set.” Up next? A Fallis Studios coffee bean collaboration with De’Longhi and a men’s dopp kit.

Observer recently had the chance to catch up with Fallis on his current favorite essentials, from workouts and movies to coffee and music. 

His typical workout routine:

I just got back from Muay Thai [a form of Thai boxing], which I’ve been loving. I try and get in four or five days a week [of exercise], doing one day of mobility and a bunch of strength and cardio. And then I’m on the bandwagon for infrared and cold plunge.

The movie he’s watching on repeat:

I love rom-coms so much; my most-viewed movie is probably What Women Want—it’s my favorite movie to zone out to.

Current New York City favorites:

The newest drink spot that I went to is Sip & Guzzle on Cornelia Street. It’s based on this concept out of Tokyo called SG Club, and they have a Wagyu Old Fashioned. Then Coqodaq does luxe fried chicken; they have a crazy champagne list and one of the appetizers is chicken nuggets with caviar. And for coffee, I’ve been going to Cafe Lyria, along with the rest of the world on TikTok.

The most recent addition to his playlist:

The song I’m loving the most right now is called “Mwaki” by Zerb.

Favorite vacation spot:

Palm Heights in the Cayman Islands is great. We went at New Year’s last year as a family, and it’s so fun—you can go swimming with stingrays and hold starfish. The spa is next level, and they do pizza karaoke night.

What he’s traveling with:

A Rimowa suitcase, my drone and my GoPro because I’m making YouTube videos, and my new toiletry bag and my headphones.

The one thing in his wardrobe he refuses to part with:

I have a pair of selvedge denim jeans that I bought from Uniqlo when I first moved to New York and had no money. I wore that pair of jeans for five years, and patched them, and patched them again when the pockets burnt through. I won’t wear them now, but I refuse to get rid of them because they’re sentimental.